The Crosswinds Youth Services Capital Campaign 2006:
Building for the Future
The Crosswinds Youth Learning & Assessment Center
The Crosswinds Youth Learning & Assessment Center will offer an array of educational services for some of the most vulnerable young people in our communities. These are youth whose education and lives have been disrupted due to family instability, delinquency, substance abuse and mental health problems, homelessness, and/or by having their own children too early. This unique, single-stop facility will offer young people opportunities to succeed in spite of past academic and life challenges. There is a critical need for this center, as evidenced by the statistics below.
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The demand for youth services has dramatically increased. Over the past five years, the number of youth using Crosswinds' services increased by over 300%, from 1,200 to 4,000.
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Educational needs are staggering. Last year, 87% of the youth served by Crosswinds reported serious educational deficiencies.
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Academic failure has a long-term impact on youth and the community. National studies show that poor academic achievement is a significant precursor to delinquency and that bonding to school is a protective factor against criminal behavior.
Youth Learning & Assessment Center Will Fulfill a Critical Need
Educational services the Learning & Assessment Center will provide include:
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Comprehensive assessment
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Life skills instruction
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Career exploration
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Intensive basic skills tutoring
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FCAT and other test preparation
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Literacy instruction
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Parenting education
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GED preparation
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Linkages to Crosswinds' programs
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Vocational skills training
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After school programs
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Arts education
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Physical education
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Mentoring
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Substance Abuse/Mental Health services
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Mini Job Link
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Entrepreneurial training programs
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Linkages to community services
Getting Involved
Our future as a community depends on today's youth. We must do everything possible to provide them opportunities to achieve overall success in life. This is vital for their well-being and the well-being of our entire community. Our young people are the foundation for the future.
With a shocking 90% of the 4,000 youth served by Crosswinds last year having severe educational deficiencies, we must offer as quickly as possible additional opportunities to learn. If we don't, those 3,600 youth and others like them will likely face a continuous uphill battle with great hardship throughout life.
Caring community volunteers have helped raise more than one million dollars to build the $2.98 million Crosswinds Learning Center. We now face an even greater challenge to raise the additional funds needed to make this facility a reality for the young people desperately in need.
Please print out a pledge card, complete it, and send or fax it to us in order to make your three-year commitment. Your donations to Crosswinds, a highly-respected 501(c)(3) charity, are tax-deductible to the fullest extent allowed by law. The greatest way you can help is to pledge the greatest amount you can, to help build the Crosswinds Learning & Assessment Center. In this way, you will help transform these young lives and transform our community for the better.
Naming opportunities for rooms exist for those pledging at the $25,000, $50,000, and $100,000 levels.
